Chaeles a



(No Model.)

0. A. LIEB & E. LAVENSK ELECTRIC WIRE SUPPORTER.

UNITED STATES CHARLES A. LIED, OF NEW YORK, AND ERlVIN LAVENS, OF BROOKLY PATENT OFFICE.

NE YORK; SAID LAVENS ASSIGNOR TO SAID LIED.

ELECTRIC-WIRE SUPPORTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 450,587, dated April 14, 1891.

Application filed December 8, 1890. Serial No. 374,003. (No model.)

To a-ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, CHARLES A. Line, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York, State of New York, and ERWIN LAVENS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Insulated Supporters for Electric \Vires, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to an improvement in insulated supporters for electric wires, frequently called bellinsulator, and it consists, broadly stated, in certain improvements whereby we are enabled to make a supporter very quickly and well, they being also very strong; and an important feature of our invention is the fact that :they hold the supported wire close to the span-wire or other means whereby the insulated supporter is sustained or suspended. This is an important feature in overheadrailway systems where it is desired to have the trolley-wires as near the span-wires as possible, so that the height of the poles may be reduced as much as possible.

Broadly stated, our invention consists in a metallic castim or part which preferably has hooks for engagement with the span wires integral therewith, the body part whereof is open at one or both sides, and has a recess or hole in its lower portion through which the threaded nut or eyebolt may project, and by reason of the open sides of the casting it is an exceedingly easy and rapid process to place or mold insulating material upon and about the parts, so as properly to insulate the nut or eyebolt, and we also are enabled to very economically provide an umbrella made of the insulated material, the umbrella being molded or formed by the same operation which places the insulating material upon and about the metallic parts.

We illustrate the invention as adapted to use in an overhead electric system for streetrailways, showing span-wires as the means for suspending the insulated supporter. lVe do not limit ourselves, however, to this use of the invention. It may be used in many other places and in connection with other devices.

Figure l. is an elevation of one form of the invention. Fig. 2 is a plan of that shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on the line at so of Fig. 1. Fig. at is an elevation, the insulating material, however, being shown in section, of another form of my invention, the face-plate shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5 being removed. Fig. 5 is a section on the line 1 y of Fig. a. Fig. 6 is avertical section of anotherform of the invention. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section,tl1e nut being shown in elevation of still another form of the invention.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, A is the spanwire. 13 is a casting, open in this instance at both sides, and having arms O O, cast or made integral therewith, which have upon their ends the hooks D D,whieh engage with the span-wire, and a cradle E at its upper part, which supports the span-wire in its deflected section where it passes upwardly over the top of the device. F F is an annular flange, projecting inwardly from the lower part of the hollow casting, which supports the insulated material G within the casting. II II represent an outward]yprojecting flange, which may be inwardly curved to its lower rim, as shown, to better hold the insulating material, or it may be bell-shaped, as shown in Fig. 7. I is an umbrella, which is made of the insulatin g material and which incloses the flanges H and F, and also the nut J with its flat head K, and fills all the interior space of the hollow casting or metal part. It will be seen that this form of supporter is an exceedingly effective, cheap, and compact device. The metallic casting can be made at very little expense, and then, the casting and the nut J being placed in a suitable mold and properly sustained thereby, the insulating material G may be quickly and cheaply molded under great pressure, if desired, and with or without the employment of heat at the time of molding or subsequently in, upon, and about the said metallic parts, and the umbrella may be formed by the same operation; and it will also be specially noticed that in this form of supporter the span-wire A is only a little above the head of the nut K. Thus when the c0nnecting-piece or clamping-jaws, which are immediately connected to the trolley-wire and which we do not show because they are well understood,are connected with the nut J the trolley-wire will be held a very short distance only from the span-wire, thus reducing the height of the poles. It will also be noticed that the head K of the nut J is larger than the opening through the inwardly-projecting flange F. \Ve so make the device in order that if for any reason, such as burning or crushing, the insulating material should be destroyed, nevertheless it will be impossible for the trolley-Wire to drop, because the head K of the nut J cannot escape from the easting. This feature, however, forms the subject-matter of another application for Letters Patent filed by us. e, therefore, do not claim it in this case. Said application is numbered 374,002, and was filed December 8, 1890. Said application No. 374,002 covers an invention different from this present one, because in that the eyebolt and the insulating material are held in place by the cross-belt alone, and the eyebolt and this material may be fashioned or made entirely separate from thev casting and then dropped or pushed within, as stated, whereas in this present case the cross-bolt is not relied upon, or at least not exclusively, for maintaining the eyebolt and insulating material; but, on the contrary, the flanges or sides of the casting itself hold the insulating material in place.-

In Figs. 4, 5, and 6 we show another form of the invention, which has the same characteristic of open sides, whereby the eyebolt or not (shown as an eyebolt in these figures) may be placed integral within the metallic ring or hollow casing, and then the two parts- 2 e., the metallic casing and eyebolt-being properly held in a mold the insulating material may be quickly and cheaply embedded or placed about and upon the parts. In these figures we show a round metallic casing and omit the umbrella. We give them substantially the same letters, as stated in Figs. 1, 2, and A is the span-I D D .are the hooks. C G are the arms attaching the hooks to the B is the metallic casing. wire. E is the cradle.

hollow casing 13. J- is the eyebolt. G G is the insulating material. K is the hole or opening in the bottom part of the metallic casing, and L is a cross bolt, pin, or rivet, which we use in this form of the invention. It may be made of any suitable material. Insulating material may itself be employed, if desired,-

such as wood. It is not essential when the device is made as shown in the Figs. 4t and 5, because, even if the insulating material were destroyed, the eye of the eyebolt being larger than the opening K in the casing, it could not escape therefrom; but we prefer to use it, because, although it is not necessary to protect the face of the insulating material on the open side of the casting B, nevertheless we desire to do so ordinarily, in order to strengthen the device, and we accomplish this by a circular cover M, (see Fig. 5,) which has an annular flange N, which engages in a rabbet on the casing B, and the cross rivet or boltL passes through this cover and is riveted upon it. By thismeans the insulating material is well protected, the case is strengthened, and should the insulating material be destroyed the eye of the eyebolt will be held by the rivet or bolt L, which is sustained both by the. back of the case B and byits cover M, instead of having to rely for support upon the case alone, which without the cover might be insuificient under the very considerable strain to which it would be subjected. This, however, is almost entirely a matter of weight of metal in the hollow case. They may be made sufficiently strong without the employment of a cover.

In Fig. 6 we show a construction in which the cover M is differently applied to the easing, being let into the same instead of having the overlapping flange N. We preferthe construction shown in Fig. 5. In Fig. 6, also, the hole or opening at the bottom of the casing, through which the threaded stem of the eyebolt or nut, as the case may be, projects, is madein the form of a slot extending to the rim of the casing. It is a trifle easier and quicker to make the supporters inthis form. The sustaining of the parts in the 'mold being somewhat more easily effected,

we therefore show this construction. The case is, however, weakened by being cut through to its periphery. We also show in this figure a threaded boss E, into which any suitable attachment may be screwed to support the device.

In Fig. 7 we show a form similar to that shown in Fig. 1, with the exception that the side of the case which is left open is at the upper part of the hollow casting instead of on its side. The result is practically the same, because the molding can be done down through the open upper end and also fromthe bottom or opposite end, as well as laterally. In this case the metallic part is or may be circular. Of course the cradle E is not employed in this case, the span-wire Abeing deflected by the upper edge A of the casting. The metallic flange H and the flange F are substantially the same as in Fig. 1, excepting that the flange II is bell-shaped and not hooked, and the nut J and its head K and the insulating material placed about the parts are also substantially the same as'in Fig. 1. It will of course be understood that the insulating material may be applied in other ways than by molding, and also that the metallic parts maybe made of wrought or sheet metal instead of being cast.

We do not limit ourselves to the details of construction shown, because it will be apparout to those who are familiar with this art that modifications may be made therein and still the invention be employed.

lVe claim- 1. An insulated supporter for electric wires, comprising, essentially, a hollow open-sided metallic casing, a threaded nut therein, and insulating material surrounding the nut, substantially as set forth.

2. An insulated supporter for electric wires, comprising, essentially, a hollow open-sided metallic casing, hooks integral therewith, a threaded nut therein, and insulating material surrounding the nut, substantially as set forth.

3. An insulated supporter for electric wires, comprising, essentially, a hollow open sided metallic casing having means whereby it may be suspended, and a flange for the support of insulating material constituting an umbrella, a threaded nut within the casing, and insulating material surrounding the nut and the umbrella-flange, thus forming an umbrella of insulating material, substantially as set forth.

4. An insulated supporter comprising, essentially, a hollow metallic casing, means for suspending the same, a nut within the casing embedded in insulating material, a threaded portion whereof projects through the opening in the casing, substantially as set forth.

5. An-insulated supporter comprising, essentially,a hollow metallic open-sided casing, means for suspending the same, a nut within the casing, a threaded portion whereof projects through an opening in the bottom of the casing, insulating material within which the nut is embedded, and a cover or side plate separate from the casing, substantially as set forth.

6. An insulated supporter comprising, essentially, a hollow metallic open-sided oasin g, a threaded portion whereof projects through an opening in the bottom of the casing, insulating material within which the nut is embedded, and a cover or side plate separate from the casing and a cross bolt or rivet, which passes through the cover, the insulating material, the eyebolt or nut, and the easing, substantially as set forth.

7. An insulated supporter for electric wires, comprising, essentially, a hollow open-sided metallic casing, hooks, and a cradle for engagement with a suspending wire cast integral therewith, a nut, an eyebolt placed within the casing, the threaded part whereof projects through an opening in the side thereof, and insulating material by which it is surrounded, substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 25th day of November, A. D. 1890.

CHARLES A. LIEB. ERVIN LAVENS. W'tnesses:

FREDERICK SMITH, PHILLIPS ABBOTT. 

